What's A Little Care?
by trunks111
Summary: ZakuChoji. Zaku is a hot-head. He's never careful. All he does is fight, no thoughts of the consequences. Choji, however, is always careful. He never wants to upset anyone or cause problems. Zaku's at his last shot, Choji develops a crush on him. Will Zaku like him back or throw him to the curb like everyone else has done him? Yaoi. Shoenen-ai. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Zaku sat in the backseat of the jeep moodily, his arms folded across his chest, his black meesenger bag and under armour bags carrying all his possessions. He was on his way to some school.

He had been bounced from foster home, to foster home, even a group home at one point. Now, they were shipping him to some college. He didn't care about school, he wanted out of the Jeep. It was cramped.  
Well, it wasn't really, only his current foster parents and then some psychologist were in the jeep, the parents in the front and the other in the back seat.

Once again, the psychologist, Iruka, tried talking to him.

"This college we're taking you to is a unique one. You will be given the opportunity to be on the boxing team, and if you do well enough, the school will give you a degree in a field of your choosing. From there, you can either join the workforce or continue on as a professional boxer."

Zaku still said nothing, it was nothing new, they had been telling him about it for the past two weeks, trying to get him excited. The most interesting part was the boxing, not that he told them. He kept his eyes out the window, watching the scenery.

"There is a fitness floor, where you can lift weights, cycle, or swim. It's free for all who attend," Iruka continued, seemingly oblivious to Zaku's indifference.

Again, he had heard it before, and acutally liked the sound of it, but still he didn't say anything.  
They had told him he would have to pick a major by his third year, if not sooner. He was annoyed and didn't want to, having no ideas for what he wanted to go into. He liked smashing people's faces in. That was about it. He could say that, but then Iruka would start in on him, asking why he wanted to do that, why he wanted to do such things. Zaku never answered, he just looked bored.

No matter who it was, though Iruka had been his for the last five years, they all asked the same things. Why did he feel the need to hurt others? Why did he get in fights? Why couldn't he get along with the others? Why, why, why.

It was simple, people annoyed him, so he made them shut up. He couldn't very well say that either. Or they would ask him why do they annoy him, what about them set him off?  
All he wanted to do, was be left alone. Left alone like his parents had left him. No one c

He was sick of it. ared about him, so he didn't care about anyone. He wanted to fight, to feel the skin give way to his fist or foot, to hear the crunch of bone, the snap, the thump, the smack as his limb collided with it's target. It was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced. He loved it. But he definitely couldn't say that.  
They might take it upon themselves to lock him up in a padded room some where. That would definitely end all his fun.

At last, they arrived at the college, it was a large campus. Trees, parking lot, six buildings all together, all multi-floored. He was told to stay in the car for now, they would fetch him when it was time for him to go to his room. He rolled his eyes at them and stretched out in the back seat, swingging his legs up to rest on the seat. He leaned his head back against the windown, closing his black eyes, awaiting their return.

Some time later, he heard a rap on the window. With a groan, he picked up his things and moved the front seat up, climbing out.  
A smiling Iruka handed him a piece of paper and a key.

"Your dorm and schedule. I will be by every week to see how you're doing."

He didn't bother responding, taking the offered items and walking away. Iruka stared after the young guy, not much was really even known, even after five years he hadn't gathered much. With a sigh, he climbed into the jeep as Zaku's foster parents returned too.

Zaku found his dorm, opening the door, he saw another guy sleeping on the other bed. He made a face, but quietly put his things away, he wasn't that much of a douche to disturb someone sleeping. Unless they deserved it.

After fitting his black sheets to the bed, he flopped down on it, pulling the schedule from the pocket he had stuffed it in. He read it with disinterest.

M,W,F: English 111, Math 111  
T,R,S: Psychology 111, Philosophy 111

Boring, basic classes. English would be at two, math at four. Psych was at one, philosophy at five.

With nothing better to do, Zaku stuffed the schedule back in his pocket and went in search of the fitness floor. After about an hour of wandering, he found it. It was indeed, huge. There were three of every set of workout machines, multiple dumbbells, tons of cycles and treadmills, a track around the whole thing, and the pool at the farther side. He stared for a few moments, taking it in. No one else was there currently.

With a glace at his clothes, he shrugged and walked over to the nearest cycle. He climbed on and set the timer for 20mins, a nice warm-up.

After his warm-up, he hit every machine for two sets of twenty each. Some were more difficult than others, but he relished the challenge. For his cool-down, he went back to the bike for another 20mins. When he finished, drenched in sweat, only a few people over in the pool, he went back to his room.

The guy was still asleep, so Zaku grabbed a change of clothes, another pair of black basketball shorts and a black athletic tank top, and went into the adjoining bathroom. He locked the door, just in case, and stripped. He turned the water on hot, and took a nice, luxorious shower. It was nice to not have to rush.  
He chuckled softly to himself, as he finished up, drying off and dressing.

With a strange half-smile on his face, he exited the bathroom carrying his dirty clothes. He put them in what seemed to be the laundry basket, a tall green thing with the Konoha symbol on it. He glanced over at the other guy, _still_ asleep.

Damn.

He shrugged again and laid on the bed, arms folded behind his head. It was going to be interesting to say the least.


	2. First Sight

Eventually, he dozed off.  
When he woke, the other guy was sitting up in his bed, his phone in his hand. The room was fairly dark, so the phone lit the guy's face.

Zaku rubbed his eyes before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Hey man, I'm Shikamaru Nara," the guy said, looking up from his phone.

"Zaku Abumi," Zaku replied, cracking his neck a couple of times.

"Nice to meet you," he replied, his gaze going back to his phone.

Zaku said nothing more to him, going out of the dorm, in search of the cafeteria. He had no idea of the time, but hoped there was something to eat.  
As he walked, he saw a clock proclaiming it to be after ten. He walked faster, hoping to find the cafeteria before they stopped serving dinner.

When he found it, he found he was allowed to get as much as he wanted, since he was probably going to be on the boxing team. He grinned and got two chicken sandwiches, some green beans, and two cups of peaches with two water bottles and a little carton of chocolate milk.  
Food, it always made him happy, especially when there was a lot of it.

He took a seat at a table by a row of trash cans, sort of in the middle of the cafeteria. He saw very few others, but one guy in particular caught his eye. The guy had two trays of food, one was loaded with barbecued items, the other contained some fruit and vegetables. He also had a gallon jug of water on the bench beside him.  
He grinned to himself, studying the guy as he ate. Brunette, looked to be averagely tall, a bit of a gut but obviously well-muscled. Football was probably his sport, or soccer goalie. He dressed in a short sleeved dark red shirt and a pair of gray basket ball shorts.

As much as he disliked people, he definitely wouldn't mind getting to know that guy. Rather than directly approach him, he would ask Shikamaru if he knew him.  
He finished his food and threw away his tray, deciding to go on a quick run of the campus to help burn off some of the excess calories he just consumed.

When he returned to the dorm room, a half hour later, Shikamaru was gone, and it was getting late, so he decided to sleep and talk to him tomorrow.

Around eight, Zaku woke up. He dressed in black shorts again and a dark purple tank top this time. He went to the cafeteria for breakfast, to hid delight, they had scrambled eggs, they came in little boxes of two, so he took two and, also to his surprise, they had chocolate soy milk, so naturally, he took two cartons of that and took his seat at the same spot. Only a handful or two of people were there, the guy he had seen yesterday wasn't there, which was slightly disappointing.

Finished with breakfast, he went to the fitness room, the same routine as before. He decided that upon Iruka's visit, he would request some swim trunks, purple, if possible. Swimming was excellent exercise. Worked all the muscles at one time.  
Grinning, and dripping sweat, Zaku walked at a leisurely pace back to his room.

Shikamaru was still asleep, so he picked out another pair of black shorts and a yellow tank top, getting a shower before settling down to wait for the other guy to wake up.  
He laid on his bed and blissed out to some music while he waited, eyes open, but not really seeing anything, lost in thought.

In all his wildest dreams, he had never expected college. Much less a college with a boxing team. As for a major..., he had no ideas. College had never been something that interested him. But..., he could go into Sports medicine, if his boxing career wore out, he could fall back on that, it wouldn't be exactly what he loved but it would be a stable income.  
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. When had he gotten so... Adult-like? Probably when they had sent him here..., told him it was his last shot. His last chance, if he didn't somehow control himself, he would likely end up in jail.

He hated that they were right, but he didn't want to go to jail...

Looking over, he saw Shikamaru was awake.

"Do you know where the boxing team meets and trains?"

Shikamaru glanced over, "I don't but my friend is trying out, he knows and is going there in a little while, he can show you if you want."

"All right, thanks man."

"No problem. His name is Kiba, I'll text him, he'll probably be here in like an hour or less."

"Do you know a guy who's about average but kinda tall, brunette, and got a gut but he's also muscular lookin'?"

"Uh yeah, that's my dude Choji Akimichi, he's a cool dude."

"What's his sport?"

"Football, he's a offensive tackle, why?"

"No reason, just saw him in the cafeteria yesterday," Zaku replied with a shrug, looking away.

"Since you're new around here, I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind if you hung with us sometime, we usually go to the dude's rec room almost every night, for gaming, cards, or movies," Shikamaru told the other guy, not looking at him either, suddenly very interested in his phone.

Zaku didn't bother to respond, fiddling with his headphones and iPod, trying to get the cord down his shirt.  
A while later, a knock sounded on the door.

"That should be Kiba," Shikamaru said, so with a nod of thanks, Zaku got up and went out.

"Hey, you must be Zaku, I'm Kiba Inuzuka," the taller male said with a friendly smile.

Zaku nodded, with a motion for Kiba to proceed.

Kiba walked on, chattering about the boxing team, asking if Zaku had ever boxed, if he had ever seen a boxing match, if he knew the rules.  
When Zaku replied no to all of his questions, Kiba stared at him for a moment before then beginning to explain all the rules and what would be expected of him if he made the team.  
It was a mixed team, most matches would consist of tournaments, two mixed teams per ring, one match every week. The coach was a man named Maito Gai, one of the best fighters was a boy he had adopted named Rock Lee. Lee had been practicing since he was very young, he almost rivaled Gai in skill.

Zaku listened without comment, curious about Lee, a good fight could be had with someone of actual skill. A fun fight. He itched to fight him, at least once. At last, they reached the training room, it was under the fitness room, complete with about ten rings, mats covered the floor, punching bags and dummys were set up throughout.  
Kiba told him that this was where most practices were held, but you were expected to also go to the fitness room three times a week at least. Practice was four times a week, usually tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and saturday, times were anywhere from 11am until 11pm, as long as you spent at least three hours, each time, you were good. Most people had no trouble with it.

Zaku nodded, eager to begin, especially if Kiba was to be his first opponent. He was taller, definitely fit and muscular. A good match.


	3. Friends?

"How about it?" Zaku asked, grinning at Kiba.

Kiba looked confused so he elaborated, "Me and you, a match. Now."

"A match with you? I... I don't feel right fighting a novice."

"Come on, no gloves, no protective gear. Just a flat out fight. I'm not as inexperienced as you think," Zaku smirked.

"No gear? But... We could get seriously injured...," Kiba sounded dubious, but Zaku could tell he was warming to the idea.

"Come on, unless you know, you're too scared."

"I'm not scared," he growled.

"Good," Zaku said cheerily and hopped in the nearest ring.

Kiba climbed in after him, standing in the opposite corner.

They circled each other. No more talk passed between them. Zaku watched him, his chest more specifically. The first sign of attack would come from there. It did, his right pec twitched, Zaku ducked low sliding closer, the air whistled as Kiba's fist passed over where he had just been. Zaku sprung up with a punch to Kiba's gut, taking him completely by surprise as it all happened in a matter of seconds. Zaku's follow-up was a left handed blow to Kiba's cheek, just a glancing blow as he then jumped back out of range before using the ropes to bounce himself towards Kiba for a tackel. Straddling the taller's waist, Zaku pummeled his face with light blows, ones that wouldn't even bruise.

He hopped off after a minute.

"You're better than I expected...," Kiba said as he took Zaku's offered hand.  
Like food, fighting always put Zaku in a good mood.

"I could have done worse, but I held back..., don't wanna hurt you too badly."

Kiba chuckled.

"Damn Kiba. I don't think I've ever seen you take a beating so well," a slightly deep voice commented from outside the ring.

Both looked over, startled slightly.

It was Choji, dressed in red shorts and a light gray tank top.

Zaku laughed and said, "If you think that was a beating, you've never seen a real fight."

"Heh, I have, Kiba used to be quite the bruiser. I've had to pull him off a few guys."

Zaku looked over at the muscular teen. "Then why are you so antsy?"

Kiba looked away. "I don't want to injure you."

"I don't care about injuries."

"I do. You want to be on the boxing team, try outs are soon. If you make the team, then I will have a real fight with you if you still want one."

"Fine," Zaku sighed in disappointment.

"So why are you here Choji?" Kiba asked, turning his attention to the larger male.

"Lookin' for your sorry ass. We're going out for pizza, they wanted to know if you wanted to come. Shikamaru's too lazy to walk all the way down here so he sent me."

Zaku snickered, making Choji look over at him.  
"What's so funny shortie?"

"Hmm..., I'm gonna go with the option of your face?" Zaku replied with a smirk.

"You ass!" the other boy growled, and charged at the ring, climbing over the ropes and charging right at Zaku.

Laughing, Zaku jumped over the charging football player, landing over beside Kiba who was about to get outof the ring.

"I was only kidding."

Choji broke into a grin as well as he faced the other two. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure, but... I... Don't have much money on me...," Zaku said, looking away.

"It's okay, one of us covers the bill each time, eventually it'll be your turn and you can pay then," Choji said with a friendly grin, placing his hand on Zaku's shoulder.

Zaku's shoulder burned with a delightful fire where Choji had touched him, it was hauntingly cold when his hand fell.  
Keeping his voice level, Zaku replied, "Sounds great."

With that, the three left, Zaku following Choji to the parking lot where they met up with Shikamaru, and a blond guy.

Kiba introduced Zaku to the blond, who proudly proclaimed he was Naruto Uzumaki.

Much to Zaku's delight, he was sat between Choji and Naruto in the back of Kiba's car. The drive was rather short though, and they ordered three seperate large pizzas. One with pepperoni, one with only cheese, and one with peppers.

They all consumed between three and four pieces each. Zaku had two slices of cheese and one of peppers. Choji ate four of cheese, Kiba had four of pepporoni, Shikamaru had two pepporni and one peppers. Naruto had four peppers.

Naruto paid the tab and they returned to the dorm, the plan being to go to the rec room and game for a few hours, maybe watch a few movies in a few hours.  
Zaku had never really gamed, so he was fine just watching Naruto, Kiba, and Choji play. He studied Choji when the others weren't looking. He was interesting, definietely someone he could see himself getting closer to.  
He would just have to find a way to find out if he was gay, or even liked guys at all. Especially if he was with anyone. He loved a fight, but if Choji was already happy with someone, there was no way he would ever come between that.

He looked away before the others noticed him staring. He would eventually somehow bring it up with Shikamaru or Kiba. One of them would have to know. Looking around the room, he found a dart board. He got up and turned it on, removing the darts from the board and stepping back to the designated line. He threwand thought for a few hours, until they were ready to watch movies. The first one they watched was MIB3. He was still laughing when he bade them goodnight, and went to his room.

It seemed college life wasn't going to be so bad afterall.


End file.
